CASPAR Breaks Ground at MIT Site

By Sarah Y. Keightley
News Editor

Yesterday's groundbreaking ceremony for the Cambridge and Somerville
Program for Alcohol Rehabilitation shelter was "not only a groundbreaking,
but a new time to be celebrated by" Cambridge and MIT, according to Richard
Brescia, chair of the CASPAR board of directors.

About 110 people attended the ceremony at the 240 Albany St. site.

On March 1, the Cambridge City Council voted to approve an agreement where
MIT would build a permanent facility for the CASPAR shelter at the Albany
Street site, at the cost of $1.9 million. In exchange, MIT received
ownership of one street and obtained the lease of three other streets and
sidewalks around campus.

The shelter, which serves homeless individuals with addiction problems, had
been searching for a permanent location for 14 years. Since 1979, the
emergency shelter has been housed in two trailers on the Albany Street
site. The land is owned by MIT and leased to CASPAR rent-free.

According to MIT and Cambridge officials, yesterday's event symbolized a
new era of relations between Cambridge and MIT.

CASPAR is grateful for the permanent site and feels it has been a "catalyst
for this communication" between Cambridge and MIT, Brescia said.

O. Robert Simha MCP '57, director of planning, called the agreement "a
wonderful step in the right direction of a relationship between MIT and
Cambridge -- an important new gateway."

The ceremony was open to the public. Several community and city leaders
were present, including Cambridge Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves, President
Charles M. Vest, Cambridge City Manager Robert W. Healy, president of the
Central Square Neighborhood Coalition, city councillors, and the
Massachusetts public health commissioner. Brescia oversaw the event.

"It was so refreshing just to see many people of the community. ... it was
overwhelming," Brescia said.

Simha said the event was wonderful and well-attended. "The atmosphere
was very warm, very congenial," he said. "Everyone spoke warmly about MIT
[including] Mayor Reeves and the mayor of Somerville," Simha said. "It
would have been an event that anybody at MIT would have been pleased to
have attended."

"Many other communities would never have the dynamic we've had to go
through all the gyrations to get a solution that is win/win," Reeves said
at the ceremony.

"President Vest is to be congratulated for his vision and his understanding
of the nature of community. With his leadership MIT and Cambridge have
joined together to address the problem of shelter and safety for troubled
members of our community," Reeves said. "The city applauds the efforts of
neighbors, MIT, and members of the city council" who served on the sitting
committee that approved the agreement.

"It is not the ordinary mission of a university to find a site and finance
a building for a health and human services agency such as CASPAR, but MIT
had been committed to CASPAR for 14 years, and it was clear that the
Cambridge community wanted the services of CASPAR," Vest said at the
groundbreaking.

"We hope that the building will be complete by May or June," Brescia said.
CASPAR is still operating out of the temporary trailers right now, he
said.

Details of the agreement

MIT will lease the building to CASPAR for $1 per year for 20 years, with an
option to renew the lease for another 20 years. CASPAR will pay MIT $1 a
year for the site, while MIT will pay Cambridge $1 a year for each of the
streets. The agreement specifies that MIT may make improvements to leased
streets but must preserve public access to them.

Cambridge transferred ownership to MIT of part of Amherst Street and leases
for Carleton and Hayward Streets, and a portion of the sidewalks on Vassar
Street.

MIT also received two easements to build bridges or tunnels across Carleton
Street and a third easement for a bridge or tunnel across Hayward Street.
MIT will retain possession of any street-spanning structure when the lease
on the streets expires.

At the ceremony MIT and Cambridge received "recognition for the creative
way of resolving this problem," Simha said.